A Victory Lap

Las Vegas – This past Oct. 7, Markus Schulz enjoyed an evening that can only be viewed as another high point in an already successful career.
In front of a packed Marquee nightclub, Schulz was honored for winning the 2012 America’s Best DJ vote, as he was presented with the golden DJM-900 mixer—ABDJ’s annual “trophy”—by Davey Dave Arevalo of Pioneer DJ, the title sponsor of ABDJ’s Summer Tour. With family in attendance and an amped-up, holiday-weekend audience before him, Schulz “slayed” deep into the night with a mix of techy bombs and melodic trance gems. A night to remember, sure, but even then Schulz was looking forward to an even-bigger 2013.

Fast-forward six months to New York City, and we catch Schulz bounding down a steep set of stairs from a Madison Square Garden stage. Before a sold-out Garden this past March 30, Schulz and fellow global-trance jock Ferry Corsten had just stepped into the “World’s Most Famous Arena” and rocked it—billed as New World Punx, the duo dropped 90 minutes of madness at “A State of Trance 600” show. They might’ve been warming up for headliner Armin van Buuren, but the crowd was more than warm—it was in a lather.

“So,” I ask, “what was that like?”

“Wow!” spat out a sweaty, but still-glowing Schulz. “Just wow—indescribable…”

But that’s how things have been going for Schulz since accepting his ABDJ title—success after success. And now he’s taken to the road for his spring “North American Scream Tour”—a victory lap, if you will. And what’s different about this cross-country trek is that Schulz isn’t traveling first-class via his favorite airline. Instead, he’s doing 18 dates on a pair of buses—one for artists, the other for production gear. Along with KhoMha (a signee to Schulz’s Coldharbour Recordings) and The M Machine, Schulz is taking a full-on audio-video-and-FX show to many markets that don’t usually get such spectacles. It’s a grassroots opportunity to spread his music, raise his profile and further his label’s brand—2013 promises to be big.

Just as he prepped for the tour, we caught up with Markus Schulz at the Red Bull Guest House/Dream Hotel for a look back and a view forward.

DJ Times: How has being voted America’s Best DJ impacted you?

Markus Schulz: It’s a real honor to have won. The fans are really more proud of it, I think. The fans message me a lot and tell…